There’s 14 hours of travel to Da Nang, whether you take the train or the bus. So it makes good sense to combine the travel time with sleep.

Between train, bus, and plane, the bus is the cheapest. But a bit like with the spring roll, the money saved isn’t necessarily worth it. Still, I chose the night bus partly just to have tried it. You get your own little compartment, where you can lie almost fully stretched out, with TV, wifi, sound, and fancy lighting.

One thing becomes clear pretty quickly once the bus starts moving: this mode of transport is not for people who can’t sleep. It rocks and sways, jolts and bumps. The roads are uneven, and the Vietnamese driving style of constant acceleration and braking makes for a generally unpleasant experience. The motion sickness starts to set in.

At some point it dawned on me that the whole idea was actually to close my eyes and sleep — instead of keeping my sense of balance in check by staring out the window.

I have my smart Garmin watch with me on the trip. It keeps track of things like sleep quality. According to the watch, I might as well have just stayed awake the whole night. At no point did it register that I actually got any real sleep. And honestly, I’d have to agree with it.

It’s a strange feeling to be woken up at 1:30 in the morning with a “toilet, toilet,” after which you shovel yourself out onto an unfamiliar rest stop in pitch darkness and rain. On the way to the toilet, it dawns on you that you have nothing on you. No phone, passport, or wallet. You don’t even have your glasses.

Still, you manage to take care of business. You crawl back onto the bus. It starts moving again, and the thought occurs to you: I wonder if everyone made it back on? There wasn’t really any sense that anyone was being counted, or that there was a set time for when the bus would move on. There were 4–5 other night buses parked at the rest stop, and they all looked identical.

But that’s very typical Vietnam. Nothing ever really goes wrong. Everyone’s back on board. It’s under control. Somehow it all works out — despite the apparent lack of any system.

We arrive early in the morning, 45 minutes ahead of schedule. I don’t know whether the driver deserves praise or a scolding for driving like that. But I’m now in Da Nang.

I can see the beach as I walk toward my new room. I’m looking forward to trying it out — but not until tomorrow. Right now I just need to sort out food, money, luggage, and an early night.

Da Nang is my base for now for the next week and a half. Plenty of time for the beach.

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